Hi! Question in the title.
I get that its super easy to setup. But its really worthwhile to have something that:
- runs everything as root (not many well built images with proper useranagement it seems)
- you cannot really know which stuff is in the images: you must trust who built it
- lots of mess in the system (mounts, fake networks, rules…)
I always host on bare metal when I can, but sometimes (immich, I look at you!) Seems almost impossible.
I get docker in a work environment, but on self hosted? Is it really worth while? I would like to hear your opinions fellow hosters.
How is this meaningfully different than using Deb packages? Or building from source without inspecting the build commands? Or even just building from source without auditing the source?
In the end docker files are just instructions for running software to set up other software. Just like every other single shell script or config file in existence since the mid seventies.
Your first sentence proves that it’s different. The developer needs to know it’s going to be a Deb package. What about rpm? What about if it’s going to run on mac? Windows? That means they’ll have to change how they develop to think about all of these different platforms. Oh you run windows - well windows doesn’t have openssl, so we need to do this vs that.
I’d recommend reading up on docker and containerization. It is not a script for setting up software. If that’s what you’re thought is then you really don’t understand containerization and I recommend taking some learnings on it. Like it or not it’s here, and if you’re doing any dev/ops work professionally you will be left behind for not understanding it.
I don’t think you understood the context of the comment you replied to. As a reply to “Here are all these drawbacks to Docker vs hosting on bare metal,” it makes perfect sense to point out that the risks are there regardless.
Unless I misread your comment and you’re suggesting that you think devs not having to deal with OS-specific code is a disadvantage of Docker. Or maybe you meant your second paragraph to be directed at OP?
Apparently I was unclear, I was referring to the security implications of using different manifestations of other people’s code. Those are rather similar.
I was referring specifically to docker files. Those are almost to the letter scripts for setting up software.
I find your attitude not just uncharitable, but also rude.
and I find misinformation about topics like this also to be rude. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t understand something, but what I don’t like is you going out of your way to dissuade people from using a product when I don’t think you understand the core concepts of it. If you have valid criticisms like security of docker then that’s a different conversation about securing containers, but it’s hard to take them as valid criticisms if the criticism is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the product.
I don’t think anyone I have ever talked to professionally or read about docker would ever describe a dockerfile as “scripts for setting up software”. It is much more nuanced then that.
So yes, I’m a bit rude about it. I do this professionally and I’m very tired of people who don’t understand containerization explain to me how containerization sucks.
Everything I wrote is rigorously correct, if a bit tongue in cheek.
Go play with your Dunning Kruger somewhere else.
deleted by creator